How Big is Your Smilebreaker?

Today I’d like to offer you the opportunity to participate in a challenge with me. It’s something I’ve been playing with for the last few days. I’ve named it…. How big is your smilebreaker. It’s a little game of self-awareness that helps me reflect on my own level of happiness. Please, allow me to explain.

For the past week or so, each morning as I wake up, I consciously start the day with gratitude. Rather than focusing on the problems that I need to deal with that day, I envision all the things in my life that I’m truly grateful for… the people, the experiences, the feelings and emotions. I allow myself to overflow with happiness… until I can’t help but smile.

Now here’s where the game starts to get tricky. Believing that the true value of a smile comes from sharing it…. I take my smile out into the world. The game is to see how long I can keep it before one of life’s curve balls knocks it off my face. Some days I’ve consciously made it until noon and still had my smile. Other days my thoughts around a problem or a stressful situation have made it disappear before breakfast. I haven’t made it through an entire day yet…. but I’m working on it.

We all know that life will throw one thing after another at us…. but how big will the obstacle or inconvenience have to be to make the smile disappear? If you stub you toe as you get out of bed, will that be big enough? If your car won’t start, will that do it? If you lose your job or can’t pay the mortgage, will that be your smilebreaker? How big does the problem have to be to make your smile disappear?

Each day we have a choice to be happy. So for today, join me in the game. Just for this one day- CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY.

Choose to keep your smile and share it with others, no matter happens. The only thing that can change our smile to a frown is our thoughts- and we have control over that. We may not control the circumstances, but we do control our reaction to them.

Be conscious of your smile and your thoughts. If it disappears, recognize it and change your thoughts to bring it back to your face. You can’t share a smile if you’re not wearing one. Make it the first thing you put on in the morning and see how long you can keep it. If you lose it, don’t beat yourself up- just put on another one as soon as you realize it’s gone.

As you do this exercise each morning if will become easier as you become more conscious of it. Don’t worry if initially you realize around 9am that you’ve lost your smile somewhere that morning. Just go back in your mind and reflect on the question, “What was my smilebreaker”, and then, knowing that you traded your happiness for that thought, ask yourself these questions…..

Was it worth it?
What did I get out of that experience?
Wouldn’t I rather be happy?

Chances are it will help you to understand and see where you’re allowing yourself to be controlled by the situation around you.

You deserve to be happy- that’s why it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile. You were born to be happy. Allow it to happen.

Be conscious of it…. and the more you do this, the easier it will become. Pretty soon we’ll all be walking around sharing big grins with one another laughing at the days when our smilebreaker used to be a very small, silly thought.

Please share your experience with me below. I want to know, how long did you keep your smile and how big was your smilebreaker? I want to know if you were able to keep your beautiful smile all day- consciously and intentionally, and what happened in your life as a result of it. Share your happiness and your success with us below. Just imagining your smiles and your success, I’m already smiling… so I guess this day is off to a great start. 🙂

Gail Lynne Goodwin is the founder of InspireMeToday.com, bringing the best inspiration to the world. InspireMeToday.com provides free inspiration, each day from a new Inspirational Luminary, to a global community of folks from over 150 countries. Gail has interviewed many well-known names including Sir Richard Branson, Guy Laliberte, Seth Godin, Tony Hseih, Gary Vaynerchuk, Michael Gerber, Marci Shimoff, Jack Canfield and hundreds more. According to Mashable, Gail was one of 2009's Top 25 Most Inspirational People on Twitter.

Prior to InspireMeToday.com, Gail spent several years as manager for her recording artist daughter, Carly. As a result of the success of their co-penned song, "Baby Come Back Home", Gail accompanied her daughter to bases in the US and to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba where Carly performed for our troops. Gail and Carly created the 'World's Longest Letter' of love and support and delivered the 18-mile long scroll on a month-long tour of Iraq and the Persian Gulf in 2006.

Gail is excited to present her latest course, Love in 21 Days, a step-by-step guide to finding love online. Love in 21 Days is founded on a logical process that has been tested - and proven! - by not only Gail, but also by students around the world who too have found love.

Gail is a published author and a regular writer for the Huffington Post. She offers mentoring and mastermind services to clients worldwide from her home in Whitefish, Montana. Follow Gail on Twitter or Google+.